Expanding the Horizon from Barnstormers to Mainstream
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LESSON 2 Expanding the Horizon from Barnstormers to Mainstream ESSIE COLEMAN was an unlikely pioneer. Quick Write She was one of 13 children born to a former B slave in Texas sometime in the 1890s. Her father was part African-American and part Cherokee and Choctaw Indian. Her mother, an African-American, Bessie Coleman was an didn’t know how to read. But she had big ideas extraordinary woman from a very humble background. for her little girl. She made Bessie want to When you read the story “become somebody.” about her, you can see how having a strong supporter— It took a while, but Coleman fi gured it out. The someone who has confi dence “somebody” she wanted to become was an in you and convinces you airplane pilot. that you can achieve your dream—helped lead her Coleman managed to graduate from high school. to success. Describe an She even had a semester of college in Oklahoma. experience when you or someone close to you got She loved to read. One of the things she read about support in reaching a goal. was aviation. During World War I, she was living in Chicago, working as a manicurist. The newspapers were full of stories about the air war in Europe. Coleman decided she didn’t want to remain on the Learn About ground. She didn’t want only to read about aviation. She wanted to fl y. • the barnstormers’ signifi cance When she went to sign up for lessons, doors closed • notable pilots who were in her face. Yes, there were a few women pilots— barnstormers but a black woman? No one she talked to could • the barnstormers’ imagine such a thing. signifi cant contributions to aviation But she had a powerful friend—Robert S. Abbott. • how barnstormers He was the editor of the Chicago Weekly Defender. changed public opinion of aviation His newspaper had sponsored a contest to fi nd the best manicurist in black Chicago. Coleman won that contest. 78 CHAPTER 2 Developing Flight So Coleman had an “in” with Abbott. She went to see him. He liked her idea of fl ight lessons. And he had an Vocabulary idea of his own. Go to Europe, he said. People there • mentor will be more accepting of you. He had another tip: • barnstormer Learn French before you go! • spectators So Coleman went back to school—night school this time. • altitude She learned French and traveled to Europe. • aerodynamic • enthusiasts After a few months, she ran out of money. So she • amphibian planes returned to the United States. She went back to work. She saved as much money as she could. Finally she had enough to return to Europe. She looked for the best fl ight teacher she could fi nd. She ended up studying with the chief pilot for Anthony Fokker, the famous aircraft manufacturer. Fokker saw Coleman’s talent and encouraged her. He became her mentor. A mentor is a trusted coach or guide. On 15 June 1921, Bessie Coleman got her license. She was the fi rst licensed black woman aviator in the world. Bessie Coleman’s French pilot’s license National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, SI-99-15416 LESSON 2 Expanding the Horizon from Barnstormers to Mainstream 79 The Barnstormers’ Signifi cance Bessie Coleman’s story is inspiring to anyone striving to make a dream come true. Her story is also important because of the kind of aviator she was. Coleman earned fame as a barnstormer—a pilot who travels around the country giving exhibits of stunt fl ying and parachuting. The term barnstorming comes from the time pilots would fl y over a small rural town to attract attention, then land at a local farm. In the 1920s, the term became attached to stunt fl ying. Historians give stunt pilots like Bessie Coleman credit for sustaining the aviation industry during its early years. Barnstorming shows drew crowds of spectators—people who come to see an event or show—during and after World War I. These daredevil pilots, along with the stuntmen and parachutists who worked with them, entertained people in the days before there were theme parks or television. Some pilots worked in teams. Their acts were called “fl ying circuses.” Once the war was over, these pilots became the public face of American aviation. The aircraft industry had boomed during the war. Britain, France, Germany, and Italy produced tens of thousands of planes. And the United States was catching up. By the war’s end, it had almost 4,000 planes and about 9,500 men in the air service. But on 14 November 1918, three days after the war ended, the US government canceled $100 million worth of airplane contracts. The country’s leaders didn’t yet see how important aircraft could be for national security in peacetime. Within three months, 175,000 workers in the aircraft industry lost their jobs. Aircraft production dropped by 85 percent. The Army dumped its surplus warplanes onto the market. That was a big blow to the aircraft companies. Who would buy their new planes when Uncle Sam was selling old ones at bargain prices? Commercial and private aviation did not yet exist. There were no regularly scheduled fl ights for business or vacation travelers. Cars weren’t yet popular either. Most people traveled from one city to another by train. In fact, even though aviation had been important during the war, by 1918 most Americans had still never seen an airplane. The barnstormers changed that. Many of them were former Army pilots. Since military aviation had been cut back, a large number lost their jobs. They leaped at the opportunity to keep fl ying. These pilots enjoyed showing off the skills they had mastered in combat. They excelled at tight turns and daring maneuvers. And they often fl ew the same aircraft—planes such as the Curtiss JN-4 (“Jenny”)—that they had trained on in wartime. 80 CHAPTER 2 Developing Flight Developing Flight A replica Curtiss JN 4 “Jenny” Kletr/Shutterstock Notable Pilots Who Were Barnstormers Bessie Coleman was just one of several Americans who gained fame as barnstormers and helped move aviation into the public eye. Like the pilots of World War I, the barnstormers were a special breed. For the barnstormers, fl ying was in some ways less risky than it had been for combat pilots. No enemy guns fi red on them as they performed maneuvers over fi elds and county fairgrounds. But fl ying, especially stunt fl ying, was still dangerous. Many of the barnstormers died in air accidents. Among them were Bessie Coleman and another pilot named Lincoln Beachey. Born in San Francisco, Beachey (1887–1915) was one of the top barnstormers. At one point, Orville Wright called him “the greatest pilot of all time.” In his Curtiss biplane, Beachey thrilled crowds with his dives. He could snatch a scarf or a handkerchief off the ground using the tips of his wings. On 14 March 1915, Beachey fi rst fl ew his new plane, a more powerful monoplane. While fl ying upside down, he pulled too hard on the controls to pull out of the inverted fl ight. As a result, the wings snapped off and the monoplane crashed in San Francisco Bay, killing him. However, Beachey had many fi rsts in his short fl ying career. He was the fi rst American pilot to perform the inside loop, Lincoln Beachey Courtesy Air Force Historical Research Agency the fi rst to make an airplane tail slide on purpose, the fi rst to fi gure out how to pull out of a deadly spin, and the fi rst person to fl y through a building. LESSON 2 Expanding the Horizon from Barnstormers to Mainstream 81 A Barnstormer Arrives SOMEONE ON THE GROUND would fi rst notice it as a buzz or a whine. Much too loud for an insect, they said. It sounded like an engine. But what was an engine doing up in the sky? Could it be one of those newfangled fl ying machines? Or maybe a farmer would see a shadow fall across his fi eld— a shadow much too big to be that of a bird. It’s an airplane! A barnstormer had come to town! The pilot would typically circle over a village or a small town to get people’s attention. Then he’d land in a nearby fi eld. Word would spread. People would gather to get a look at the aircraft. The pilot would offer rides. Some hardy souls would volunteer to go up. They would typically get a fi ve-minute fl ight for $5—the equivalent of about $50 today. Barnstormers liked to show what they could do wherever crowds gathered at places like county fairs and carnivals. Flying circuses, conducted by teams of pilots, became a popular form of entertainment. Pilots who weren’t part of the circuses often teamed up with stuntmen. The stuntmen had an amazing bag of tricks. “Wing walking,” for example, was a real crowd pleaser. With the pilot fl ying a biplane in a circle, the stuntman would leave the cockpit. He or she would walk out on the edge of the lower wing, then climb to the upper wing and walk back toward the cockpit. To give viewers an extra thrill, some wing walkers would stand on their heads. Barnstormer Ormer Locklear performing a wing-walking stunt with his Curtiss JN-4D, around 1919–1920 © 2002 National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution (SI Neg 84-556-D-2) 82 CHAPTER 2 Developing Flight Developing Flight Waypoints Omlie’s Air Markers In 1935, Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie made one of her biggest contributions to American aviation when she developed the “air marker” system.